I am sitting on my bike, cycling through the breathtaking landscape of Patagonia, while hundreds of thoughts are running around in my head. Just a few moments ago I suffered up steep, unpaved slopes and asked myself the question, that a lot of people have asked me before and keep asking me: "Why are you doing this to yourself?!" But the answer comes up quickly, because the hardest trails lead to the most spectacular views, make you feel incredible and are simply a part of it. No journey is easy, like a walk in the park, especially not by bike.
I ask myself, why traveling means so much to me and once more, I instantly find the answer. To travel doesn't only broaden your view, but also somehow straightens it. You see, what life outside of your own little world is like. This little world, that you know and somehow that take for granted as well. "Simple" things, such as a toilet, a warm shower, safe drinking water, healthinsurance and well equipped supermarkets.
At the same time traveling makes me realize, that people, who, according to a lot of people, don't have a lot, are still happy with what they've got, even though their houses and cars are not like the ones we are used to and even though they don't have a 50 Inch flatscreen TV or an Alexa to dimm their lights. They are happy, because they have each other. Somehow they have a sharper view for the things, that really matter: Family, friends and love.
A wave of emotion hits me, while I am carefully manouvering my bike through a sea of potholes. "Us, the once in a better, more privileged situation, with more options and possibilities, we have to give and share!", a sentence I heard in a podcast with Micha Fritz (Viva Con Agua), a sentence that describes, why I suffer up steep, unpaved slopes, why I spend offdays with research on south american kids or trying to get the support of people with a bigger reach and why I keep trying to find new ways to generate more donations for the kids.
I know, that I am so freaking blessed, that I am able to do this trip, that I had a job that payed enough to save up for this journey (well, okay also my skills regarding saving money came in hand here... but still). And that I have a family back home, that are and forever will be my safetynet, no matter where I am and no matter what will happen.
We grew up, used to what was there and therefore sometimes don't even realize, how lucky we are. And sometimes we kind of forget, that we can do something to make this injustice a little bit better. It doesn't have to be a huge donations of hundreds of euros, also a donation of 5, 10 or 15 euros can make a difference. And what's a fiver or 10 bucks? That's doing without one starbucks visit, two boxes of cigarettes or forego the last three beers at the club. It's not a big sacrifice that hurts us, but helps others. In other words: If a lot of small people, in a lot of small places, do a lot of small things, they can change the face of the world.
Wo will reach the 10K first? The kilometers or the donations? Donate now!
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